


Stiff Drink

by retrovertigo (ellameno)



Series: The Great Fire [19]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Asexual Character, Asexual Relationship, Banter, Canon Compliant, Deleted Scenes, Developing Relationship, Drinking, Drunken Flirting, F/M, Flirting, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Kindred Spirits, Late Night Conversations, Minor Original Character(s), References to Depression, Robot/Human Relationships, Slow Burn, Touch-Starved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-22
Updated: 2018-12-22
Packaged: 2019-09-24 17:52:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17105333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ellameno/pseuds/retrovertigo
Summary: Nick makes good on his offer of the free alcohol variety, and finds himself in an unexpected scenario.[Takes place between the quests "Reunions" and "Dangerous Minds"]





	Stiff Drink

**Author's Note:**

> This will be my final update of the year! I wanted to end 2018 with something fluffy and sweet like a dessert for all you lovely people. Hope you enjoy it <3  
> Thanks to [seaweedredandbrown](http://archiveofourown.org/users/seaweedredandbrown/pseuds/seaweedredandbrown) for betareading.
> 
> [CW references to depression and mentions of using alcohol to cope]

        It was if everyone traveling the road west of the river had congregated at this shanty bar stall tonight: caravaneers with their Brahmin tied up at the water trough, a pair of timid ghouls, teens done up in raider war paint, a man Nora had _definitely_ seen in a Railroad safe-house. All huddled close to the radio on the rest stop counter, in a cloud of anxious cigarette smoke and whispers. Waiting for more news on the airship that had crossed their skies. Nora and Nick sat away from them at a small cafe table, PipBoy resting atop so they could still hear should any reports come in.

        She ate her dinner slowly, hungry as sin but her growling stomach tied in knots. Living in the wasteland hadn’t been her first experience force feeding a nerve-wracked body. After all, she’d had a husband away at war and a strenuous law school experience.

        “Last call,” shouted the man at the bar stall. The fairy lights flickered and some patrons of the rest stop patio groaned. Nora looked up with contempt, grabbing her beer while trying to finish chewing the grilled sandwich in her mouth.

        “Don’t cram everything down like that, it’ll come back up,” Nick said. He motioned for the waitress, who approached them with a plastered on smile and fear in her eyes. “Hey, could I just buy a bottle of whiskey off you folks so this kid doesn’t choke herself trying to beat the clock?”

        “U-Uh, I will get, uh— I will ask,” the waitress chirped, addressing Nora rather than the synth.

        Nora narrowed her eyes as the woman walked away.

        “Don’t you start nothin’, she’s getting you a to-go bottle,” Nick said with a pointed finger. Nora rolled her eyes. “I’ve never been to this rest stop and I’m not keen on finding out how good these people are in a bar fight.” He glanced at the crowd. “Plus everyone is extra spooked and rightfully so. They ain’t seen a zeppelin before, regardless of affiliation. Had the Brotherhood not made themselves known, I’m damn certain folks would’ve thought the Institute was gonna drop another set of bombs on us.”

        “What do you think is gonna happen?” Nora asked meekly.

        “Nothin’ to worry your head over right now. You and I aren’t a military outfit, or soldiers being called to war. I’m sure the Minutemen—  _and others_ — will have a plan.”

        The PipBoy flashed again. “My radio keeps going haywire, everyone’s trying to contact everyone.” Nora exhaled through taut lips. There hadn’t been any actual info since Preston confirmed it parked at the airport.

        The gathered patrons jumped when Travis’s voice broke through the airwaves.

        “Um — Uh, so, uh — Remember that uh, loud sound I reported on about — about a half, er, hour ago? So that was a thing called a, uh, verti… vertibert? Verdibird? It’s a smaller aircraft but uh… _pretty damn loud_. I guess it landed at the old police station, up in Camb— Well, ‘up’ as in— From where I am—  _It landed in Cambridge, so maybe avoid the area for a while?_  … OK.”

        The music resumed, as well as the anxious bar chatter.

        “They’re probably just touchin’ base with Danse, y’know?” Nick said casually. “Maybe they’re here to pick up the kids and bring ‘em home to the Capital.”

        “I hope so,” Nora muttered, praying that the Brotherhood’s claim of ‘peaceful intentions’ encompassed the people she cared about.

        The waitress returned with a bottle of lower-tier bourbon, but at least Nora could doctor it with some cola from her bag.

        “Twelve caps,” she said to Nora, again avoiding eye-contact with Nick.

        “Nuh-uh, Uisce Beatha costs five a pop and this isn’t near a hundred proof,” Nick countered. Nora could see the woman shaking now. “Say what, miss, I’ll give you eight and call it even.”

        “T-Twelve caps,” she repeated. Nick sighed.

        Nora reached into her coin-purse. “Twelve, but you let us stay on the patio so I can finish my food at my leisure.”

        The waitress swallowed and held out her hand. “Sure.”

        Nick watched the woman walk away and then turned his attention back to Nora. “This is technically a public space, I’m sure they wouldn’t kick us out for being here after bar hours.”

        “I’m also sure they’d make up anything just to make a synth go away.”

        “Mmn. Can’t say that’s never happened. I'll pay ya back, it's _supposed_ to be my gift to you.” He poured some whiskey into her camping mug and Nora flipped through her PipBoy channels. “Enough messing with the radio, kid...” Nick lightly batted her hand away from it.

        “What if there’s important info?” Nora asked.

        “You got friends who are gonna be on top of all that, they’ll let you know everything you need to know when you see ‘em.”

        “But...” Nora had experienced firsthand how the entire world could change within a few minutes.

        “Keep it tuned on Diamond City Radio. You know Piper’s back home scanning every damn channel for any sign of chatter. If she gets a scoop, she’s gonna kick in poor Travis’s door to make sure she gets it on air with a journalistic credit.”

        Nora smiled. “Well, when you put it that way.”

        “Enjoy your booze, this breezy night, this break from all our case’s BS before we dive back into it tomorrow, yeah?”

        Nora nodded and poured cola into her cup. She took a drink. “ _Oof,_ yeah. That’s a lil’ less nasty.”

        The light airy jazz may have been meant to dispel the tension, but to Nora it gave her flashbacks of an orchestra going down into the watery depths. A chill ran through her bones despite the humid air and the burn of liquor, and she almost pulled the arms of her Vault-suit back on over her tank top.

        Nora rested her toe against Nick’s, desiring closeness, a kind of physical reassurance that could not fully be sated out in the open. Their eyes met, and he brought his foot to the curve of her own.

        “What’s on that mind of yours?” Nick asked.

        “Can’t it be that I just want to touch you?” Nora replied evasively.

        He cocked his head. “Now, why would anyone wanna do that?”

        Nora gave him a disapproving look. He countered with raised brows, imploring her to explain.

        “Fine,” she huffed and poured herself more of her whiskey-cola concoction. “I feel like I want to tell people what happened back there, with Kellogg and everything, but I don’t know if I can deal with the more... _logistical_ questions.” Nora took a swig. “I love Piper like a sister but she’s twice as sharp as me, she’ll know if our story doesn’t add up in verifiable detail. She can smell lies.”

        Nick snorted and Nora’s weary eyes moved to him. “Sorry, didn’t mean to laugh at your anxieties.”

        Nora smiled weakly. “It’s OK.”

        “I know the nosy broad can be a little indelicate, but as long as we tell her we’ve got a C.I. whose safety is at risk I’m sure she’ll calm down. And that ain’t a lie either.”

        People began to filter out of the common area, either into the upstairs beds for rent or back out onto the road from wherever they’d came. Nora took another large drink that burned her throat. She had hoped the Railroad affiliate loitering the premises would pass on info to her, but he’d vanished into the shadows completely as his people were prone to do. Maybe he had none to give. Or he hadn’t spotted her on the outskirts.

        It was more likely she just wasn’t important enough to notice.

        Nora gazed at the bourbon bottle. It was doing the trick, but she wasn’t usually one to down something so ill-tasting just to chase a buzz. And she’d never chased a buzz to numb her feelings before, even on the nights when she was certain Nate wasn’t coming home from war.

        “I think I’m depressed,” Nora sighed with a resigned chuckle. “Like, not in mood terms. _Officially_.”

        “Me too,” Nick commiserated. “Our common traumas notwithstanding, there’s so much in these times to wear you down.” He gave her a tentative look. “You wanna know something kind of terrible though?”

        “Hmm.”

        “I feel a lot better now that you’re here.”

        Nora’s mouth upturned. “Why is that terrible?”

        “Because you _being here_ is why you’re depressed.”

        “To be fair, you’ve all had it worse than me. Even the days we were poor and struggling were luxurious by today’s standards.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “I’ve been depressed because I’m... adjusting. And this world keeps throwing curve-balls at me and I always sucked at baseball. But it’s better than being dead.”

        “Yeah?” Nick asked with hope in his voice.

        “Yeah.”

        “Well... that’s good to hear.”

        There was a pause as Nora swirled her drink. “Anyway, that’s... You always know what to say to make me feel like I’m…” She trailed off.

        “You’re what, hun?”

        She shrugged. “You just… make me like being me. And that’s harder to achieve than you think.”

        “I think you’re the only one in this whole damn world who doesn’t see your light.”

        “I can only suspend my disbelief _so much_ , Nick,” Nora deflected, taking another sip. “But, on the flip side… I wish people other than me saw yours.”

        “Yowzah.”

        She cringed. “Sorry if that was a backhanded compliment, I didn’t mean it that way.”

        “It’s alright, I’ve heard worse,” he teased.

        “I dunno if ‘light’ is inherently a good thing either. Hancock calls me ‘sunshine’, but then has open contempt for the sun.”

        “I wouldn’t say you’re sunshine, kiddo.”

        She gave a barking laugh. “Ouch.”

        “Hear me out, OK?” Nick said, waving a hand. “Sun can be blinding, boisterous. You can only take so much of it before you’re begging for release.” He lit a cigarette. “You? You’re more subtle. You can slip in and out unnoticed. But the people who do see you, gaze. They can’t look away. Because in you they see the unknown. Hope. A whole universe.” Nick took a drag and Nora felt herself trembling in a way that made her dizzy. He smiled. “You’re _starlight_.”

        “Oh,” she whispered, floored by his poetics. She wondered how a man could be so damn perfect and still outcast by all around him. How in this world full of hellish things, she’d managed to find the most beautiful one.

        “Excuse me,” asked a voice. Nora tore her gaze from her friend, expecting the birth of a confrontation. Instead it was the two ghouls with arms drawn close to their chests, one clutching a notebook as well. “Are— Are you Detective Nick Valentine?”

        “Uh— Technically,” Nick quipped, obviously caught off guard. The ghouls stared back in wordless confusion. “What I mean is, yeah, yeah I am. Can I help you folks?”

        The one holding the notebook glanced at the taller ghoul. “Not on a case or nothing but— Do you remember, it was right after ghouls were banned from the city— Maybe you don’t, since you must be so busy and it was so long—”

        The other ghoul interrupted: “You helped his uncle Vin and cousins fight off a band of raiders at the Still. You were right on the front lines— we’ve heard stories about it.”

        “Oh. Sure yeah, I… I remember that.” Nick shook his head. “I’m real sorry about your uncle—”

        “It’s OK, you were there for him. He wasn’t alone in the end.”

        Nora’s heart panged at the bittersweet notion and she looked at Nick, who almost seemed worried.

        “Well, uh, how’s your family doing now?”

        “They’re doing great, the Still is _still_ around—”

        “Just ask him, Davey, I’m tired,” the taller ghoul groaned.

        “Will you sign my notebook?” Davey blurted out.

        Nick’s expression went blank and his eyes darted to Nora. “Of course he will, he’d love to,” she answered for him.

        “It’s just—” Davey placed his notebook and pen in front of the gobsmacked synth. “I dunno if anyone would ever believe we saw you again out on the road after all these years.”

        “We honestly thought they were making up a tall tale to make the kids feel better about losing ol’ Vin,” the other ghoul added. “You sounded, I dunno, a little too fantastical to be real.”

        “Well, they could’ve exaggerated some details,” Nick countered sheepishly.

        “Could you sign it to the Nguyen family? Just so everyone knows you still remember us? I think they’d get a kick out of it.”

        “Sure, sure,” Nick chuckled.

        “Sorry, ma’am, we’re being rude.” The tall ghoul held out their hand and Nora shook it. “I’m Paulie. Are you with him?”

        She beamed. “Yeah, I’m Nora, I’m his partner in crime solving.”

        “You work with him?” Davey exclaimed, bracing himself against the table like he might fall. “Is it amazing?”

        Paulie smacked him gently upside the head. “Don’t be so blithe, you know they see a lot of bad shit.”

        “We do,” Nora replied, “but any day I get to spend with him _is_ amazing.” Nick’s shoulders stiffened, obviously unable to accept the compliment. He handed the book back to Davey who twinkled even brighter.

        “If you ever come back to the Still, I’m sure drinks would be on the house,” Davey said.

        Nick shot her a look. “Oh, don’t say that ‘round her.”

        Nora held up her cup. “But I’ll cheers to it!”

        Davey continued thanking Nick over and over as Paulie tried dragging him away. Once they gave their well-wishes and the ghouls were out of earshot, Nora turned to Nick with her hand on her chin and a tipsy grin.

        “Well, that was new,” Nick muttered, returning the cigarette to his lips.

        “They were precious. Ghouls are good people.”

        “I run into old clients here and there but nothin’ like that.”

        “We should really start a fan club. I’ll be president.”

        Nick recoiled slightly. “Don’t say that, that’s so embarrassing.”

        “For who?”

        “For me,” Nick groaned with a laugh. Nora smirked back at him. “I much prefer when everyone is singin’ your praises, and I can look on like… yeah, she’s the best.”

        Nora finished off her drink to hide the flustered grin squirming along her mouth.

        The lights flickered again and he frowned, back into that sarcastic persona that she adored just as much as his soft and earnest one. “The nerve. Figure they’re gonna try to annoy us out—” Everything cut to black and there was nothing but the lantern lights and the glow from his eyes. He sighed and Nora laughed. “No honor in under the table dealings anymore either.”

        She continued giggling into her hands, and he flashed her another sly look. The soft candle light smoothed out all the damage in his skin, lighting up the shadow usually cast by his hat, and it was in moments like these Nora noticed how damn handsome he was. She’d always loved that face she associated with kindness, but… _objectively_ too.

        “You alright?” Nick asked.

        “Yeah,” she breathed.

        “You sure? You look a lil moony there, _starlight._ ”

        “I think I’m drunk,” she admitted.

        Nick chuckled. “Suppose that was the point for once. Want me to take you up to bed now?”

        Nora nodded as he took her hand. He could literally take her anywhere in this moment and she’d go gladly.

        ---

        “Goodness, this is cramped.” There was only just enough room in the sparsely furnished quarters to walk forward between the wall and bunk bed.

        “Well it’s a rest stop, not an inn,” Nora slurred. “Have you never stayed at one?”

        Nick flattened against the wall so he wouldn’t feel so claustrophobic. “Never had a real reason to.”

        “Now you know how the other half lives.”

        “Like children, apparently.” He looked the bunk bed up and down. “You prefer being on top or bottom?”

        “What a _question_ ,” Nora laughed, and then covered her mouth. “Sorry. I forgot who I was with for a sec.”

        “Huh?”

        “Inside joke. And a stupid one, ignore it.”

        Nick decided to take her advice. “Well, I prefer not climbing ladders with my knees and all, but you’re…” He watched her wobble. “Uh.”

        “Drunk,” Nora finished.

        “Yeah.” Nick glanced around. “Too bad they didn’t put a chair in here—”

        “We can share the bottom bunk.”

        “Oh. No. No, there’s uhhh. Not enough...” The bed honestly wasn’t big enough for his frame longways or sideways. Maybe it had actually been built for children. “Why don’t I uh, sit— no... I’d hit my head on the top bunk.”

        He struggled to lie across the foot of the mattress but all of him from the waist down hung onto the floor. Nora laughed again and sat down next to him as she took off her shoes.

        “I’ll just sit on the ground...” Nick conceded.

        “No, that’s mean,” she whined.

        He waved a hand. “It ain’t.”

        “Here.” Nora patted the pillow. “You can do what my cousins did and put your feet by my head.”

        “Oh. Well, I guess that’d work.” He tried to lift his leg up but she pushed it away.

        “Take your shoes off first, though.”

        “No...”

        She gawked at him. “What? I don’t want your dirty taped-up shoes by my face.”

        “I never take ‘em off. I got... weird feet.”

        “Aww,” Nora cooed as if he admitted he had kittens in his loafers.

        “Don’t _aww_.”

        “Lemme see your feet.”

        “No!” he laughed.

        “No?”

        “Why would you ask something like that?”

        “So I can tell you they’re not weird.”

        He turned away quickly, knowing Nora would debate him all night. “Well, they are and these shoes are stayin’ on.”

        “Fine. Hide your _stupid_ feet.”

        “I’m gonna snag a chair off the patio.”

        “Wait…” Nora pulled him close by the exposed metal of his skull. He took a sharp breath. And she nuzzled her nose against his. “Your skin is warmer than I thought,” she murmured, her words bouncing off his lips.

        He let out a nervous chortle. “‘Cause— Uh, ‘cause the weather.”

        “Mmn.” She released him from her grasp. “Too bad.”

        “Why’d you—”

        “Just wanted to touch you.”

        He laughed again as he stepped away from the bed. “You’re so silly when you’re drunk, Nor.”

        “ _Nor?”_ She giggled. “No one’s ever called me that before.”

        “Really?” he asked.

        She tilted her head. “I wasn’t Nora before, remember? I never got to be me until I met you.”

        Something tapped in the base of his skull. “Oh…”

        “Whiskey makes me sleepy too,” she mumbled and fell backwards onto the mattress. “I’ve got the sleep-sillies.”

        “OK,” he blurted bashfully, his head still fuzzy.

        “Night, Nicky.”

        “Night, uh…” The name felt like too much to say. “Night, kiddo.”

        There was an impossible stirring in his chest as he backed out of the room. A nostalgic sensation, one he hadn’t had a taste of in decades. Not since the days Jenny had returned from her long shift at the clinic, gazing up at him, disheveled and weary but still satisfied by a day’s work.

        But no. These were just associations getting crossed, muddled.

        There was no way it could be… _that._

**Author's Note:**

> Next chapter will be more quest-based canon-with-a-twist stuff, and since it's a WHOPPER of a thing (frands, it's a 16k WIP) I'll more than likely be updating in increments like I did in the previous chapter. But that won't see the light of day til 2019...
> 
> All that said: Thank you all for another year of wonderful support, I wouldn't be here at part 19 without your love. Thanks to everyone who jumped on board this year, and thanks to those of you who have been on this train where the ride never ends since day one. I hope you all have lovely winter holidays and that the new year treats you well.
> 
> Plugging [my main blog](http://television-for-dinner.tumblr.com/tagged/fic+stuff), my [my art/fanworks blog](http://tommytonebender.tumblr.com), cryptic message about checking my side bar, etcetera. I also have a Writing Twitter that is NOT spoiler free, so follow that at your own risk.


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